This invention relates to communications among end user communication devices and more specifically to ubiquitous control of user data transmitted to, received by and stored on end user communication devices, especially but not limited to wireless end user communication devices, which may be made by different manufacturers and/or have different operating systems.
Wireless communication devices are now prevalent throughout all developed countries of the world. Although cellular telephones are currently the most widespread, other types of wireless communication devices include personal digital assistants, laptop computers with Wi-Fi and/or telecommunication carrier communication support, and various types of “pads” that provide visual displays that are larger than conventional cellular telephones but typically smaller than the displays of a laptop computer. Wireless voice communications between mobile devices utilizing different types of communication protocols, e.g. analog, TDMA, CDMA, VOIP, etc., are supported by different telecommunication carriers which provide appropriate communication protocol interfaces/gateways to facilitate voice communications between mobile units using different communication protocols.
Other types of wireless communications may also be supported for wireless communication devices. For example, text messaging, short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), email such as by simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and instant messaging utilizing hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) are available. Each type service is supported by a transport layer that is part of the telecommunication signaling structure associated with the transport of user communications and the communication of telecommunication infrastructure commands and signals. The transport layer provides command and control among telecommunication infrastructure nodes and with the users' mobile devices associated with the transfer of user data and/or system level commands. However, this transport layer is not designed to provide controllable parameters independently set by the user, i.e. the user is not provided the opportunity to directly control transport layer parameters in order to effectuate control of user data. Thus, users of wireless mobile devices have only a limited ability to exercise control over how user data is transferred, processed, delivered and stored by the origination and destination end user devices, and no ability to transmit commands from one mobile device to another mobile device where the commands effectuate changes to the recipient mobile device and/or user data stored in that device.